Leela of the Sevateem
Canon Point Following Leela’s television appearances and Big Finish’s Gallifrey audio series, but before the Last Great Time War. Background At some point in the far future, a scientific expedition known as the Mordee expedition crashed into an unnamed planet. The survivors of the disaster had no choice but to remain there and, over time, split into two primitive tribes: the Sevateem (from ‘survey team’) and the Tesh. Leela, the daughter of Sole, was a warrior of the former tribe but faced exile after insulting Xoanon, the god of the Sevateem. Her father died while taking a ritual test on her behalf and Leela encountered the Doctor for the first time shortly afterwards. It transpired that the Doctor had visited the planet in the past, accidentally driving Xoanon – who was the Mordee expedition’s computer – mad during his attempts to repair it. The Time Lord restored Xoanon’s sanity and, as he prepared to leave the planet, Leela slipped aboard the TARDIS in order to travel with him. Although he initially refused to allow her to join him, Leela accidentally triggered the dematerialisation of the ship and the pair were thrown together for a number of adventures in time and space. Amongst other excursions, Leela and the Doctor fought the war criminal Magnus Greel in Victorian London and picked up a K-9 unit that had been designed by Professor Marius. Leela came to trust the Doctor implicitly and continued to do so even after he returned to his home planet of Gallifrey. She was banished from the Capitol after the Doctor assumed the position of President of the High Council and eventually joined forces with a group of outcast Gallifreyans – known as the Outsiders – to repel a Sontaran invasion. She also fell in love with Andred, a member of the Chancellory Guard and her future husband. When the time came for the Doctor to leave Gallifrey, Leela, accompanied by K-9, elected to remain behind. After living happily with her husband for a number of years, Leela found herself drawn into the world of Gallifreyan politics following Andred’s mysterious disappearance. She became President Romana’s bodyguard, friend and confidante and, eventually, discovered that Andred had been killed by a Celestial Intervention Agency operative named Torvald. However, it soon became apparent that the Time Lord she knew as Torvald was in fact a regenerated Andred. Betrayed and furious, Leela expressed her hatred for her estranged husband. He died – stabbed through the hearts by Romana while she was trapped under the influence of the Pandora – before she had a chance to forgive him for his deception and come to terms with his new regeneration. In the civil war that followed, Leela remained at Romana’s side, continuing to fight for and protect her. K-9, her oldest friend and her last link to the Doctor, was destroyed by a blast in the Time Lord Academy, but Leela refused to allow a replacement unit to be built. Shortly afterwards, Leela was blinded by a prematurely exploding bomb and the Free Time terrorist organisation took advantage of the chaos on Gallifrey to release a virus that infected Time Lords at the point of their regeneration. Soon, the only survivors were Leela and Romana, along with their allies Narvin and Braxiatel. The President had to make a difficult choice to save her people and Leela, as loyal as ever, stood beside her while she made it. Somehow, Gallifrey and the Time Lords managed to pull through, but they were left severely weakened by their ordeal. The difficult business of rebuilding the planet began and, despite everything that she had been through during the war, Leela made the decision to stay were she was and to continue to help Romana. It seemed that the civil war had only been the beginning of their troubles. Something dark – something dark and dangerous – had started to stir at the edge of the universe. When it arrived, the President would need every ally she could get. Personality Leela is frequently referred to as primitive, but canon also makes it clear that this isn’t the same as being stupid. She is actually very intelligent, with a knack for translating difficult or unfamiliar concepts into ideas that she can understand. Furthermore, she is canny enough to know when to hide how bright she really is. People are more careless around a savage and reveal more than they should when they say things that they don’t realise she’ll understand. Strong willed and proud of both what she is and who she is, Leela refuses to be civilised by the Doctor or by anyone else she meets on her travels. She is a warrior through and through. Although she doesn’t think of herself as particularly wise, and although she knows that she isn’t a leader, Leela won’t hesitate to use her weapons against people who threaten her or the people that matter to her. She relies on her instincts and frequently displays a knack for sensing danger. More often than not, her heart rules her head and encourage her to act impulsively, without waiting for more information or pausing to think things through. Leela feels things – from happiness to sorrow – keenly, which is particularly obvious when she’s among taciturn Time Lords. She isn’t ashamed of how she feels and doesn’t hesitate to express her opinions, even when she’s among people who aren’t likely to listen. Although it is difficult to earn her trust, Leela is fiercely loyal once it has been earned. (Romana and the Doctor are the most obvious examples of this. For example, she was devastated when her K-9 unit was destroyed; having viewed him as both a friend in his own right and her last link to a dear friend. Her emotional response was very difficult to the way a Time Lord would have acted in similar circumstances. She refused to allow a replacement to be built and attempted to hold on to and honour his memory.) She will fight fiercely and furiously for her loved ones, occasionally with little regard for her own safety. She’d rather die with honour than live knowing that she’d let them down, after all. Because of this loyalty, Leela has little patience for betrayal and reacts very badly to it. When Andred assumed a false identity and broke her heart, she was unable to forgive him. However, because she had loved him, part of her was angry with herself for not being able to accept his apologies. In the end, her husband died before she could come to terms with what had happened. For a long time, Leela longed to join him. She only regained her old ferocity and strength eventually, when she was reminded of her place at Romana’s side and the fact that her friend needed her. Despite having no love for Gallifrey and most Gallifreyans, Leela pledged her heart and soul – as a true warrior would – to her friend’s cause. It was the right thing for a warrior to do. Abilities and Weaknesses Leela is adept at using a number of weapons. She has a preference for knives and the poisonous janus thorns that grew on her home planet, but she is also a good shot and will throw herself into hand-to-hand combat if necessary. She is a warrior and, consequently, is agile, alert and stronger than her fairly slender frame would suggest. However, when all is said and done, Leela is only human. She doesn’t have any special powers or abnormal strengths. She bruises and bleeds all too easily. Despite being agile and rather good with a knife or a janus thorn, the warrior isn’t impervious to harm. Depending on their severity, injuries can take a long time to heal or even be fatal. Furthermore, a premature explosion during the Gallifreyan civil war left her blinded. (Theoretically permanently, but lets not underestimate Time Lord technology or the tenacity of Leela and her powerful friends.) She was learned to cope with her loss and make the most of her other senses, but her disability is a severe handicap when she is in unfamiliar terrain and can make ordinarily simple tasks difficult for her. Category:Living Category:Characters